Evolution of Combat Beta – Live!

Today, a milestone event in the history of RuneScape is upon us: the Evolution of Combat Beta. Those of you who applied and were selected will, by now, have received an email letting you know that you’ve been chosen.

If you haven’t received an email confirming your participation, then don’t despair: all members will have access to the beta for weekends from 7th July.

For an in-depth guide on participating in the beta program, please check out our dedicated FAQ so that you’ll have a good idea of the specifics before commencing combat!

To set you on the right track, here is a quick summary of the key points:

Who can access the beta worlds?

Everyone who signed up for the beta, who has a confirmation email from us, can access the beta right away. You will also need to have current, active membership to be able to log into the beta.

For detailed information on who has access and when, please refer to the FAQ.

How do beta servers work?

There are a few key differences from normal RuneScape worlds:

The beta worlds are separate from our main game worlds. You can only access the combat beta worlds via the Combat HQ. You will not be able to use the world select option to change to a beta world from the main game.
There are 9 beta worlds in total. If the worlds are full you will be automatically added to the lobby queue. If the lobby queue is full you will still be able to play the normal RuneScape game in the meantime.
We have deliberately restricted the number of beta worlds to ensure a high level of player density, which will help us stress-test the system and gather a high volume of concentrated data.
You should import your character save before playing the beta; once in the beta lobby, you will see a new Import Character button in the bottom-left of your screen. Nothing you do on the beta worlds will affect your normal game save – there’s no interaction with the normal game aside from importing your character from the normal game to the beta game. You cannot export anything from the beta game back to the normal game.
On combat beta worlds, you can submit bug reports directly from the game, via the report button below the chat interface.
There are a number of item trader NPCs in front of Lumbridge Castle who carry a selection of free equipment to help you test out the newly restatted weapons and armour plus off-hand weaponry.

We’ll be using your feedback to make tweaks and changes where necessary to ensure everything functions smoothly on final release. If you think something needs looking at, please tell us – we are eager to hear about it!

All that remains is for us to thank all our dedicated beta testers for their participation, and to offer a massive 'thank you' to the rest of our community for their continued interest and support.

One last thing - make sure you check out our dedicated combat beta events forum for details on how you can meet the combat developers in-game in order to challenge them to a friendly battle to the death! There’s also an exclusive costume set waiting to be earned for regular participants in our weekend beta events. All the details are in the FAQ and the wiki page.

Good luck and enjoy!

The RuneScape Team

Discuss this here.

I dont remember getting an email, but lets see what happens.

I dont remember getting an email, but lets see what happens.

If you have been a member for the last 12 months you can join the beta.

I didn't get in - 0/5

I really like it, and am looking forward to it. It doesnt really change combat too much. Just spam click abilities and you rape everything. I was skeptical, but I approve.

I tried pking. I fought two mages. while I was meleeing. One was terrible, the other used his abilities a lot better, and was able to beat me.

Also, apparently brews dont work or something? I didnt really test it out, but they werent healing as much as they should, or at all. I think.

I can't wait to be able to play it, now i gotta really hurry and get 99 rc quick so i can leave the runespan when this goes live,
i hate being busy :/

I really like it, and am looking forward to it. It doesnt really change combat too much. Just spam click abilities and you rape everything. I was skeptical, but I approve.

I tried pking. I fought two mages. while I was meleeing. One was terrible, the other used his abilities a lot better, and was able to beat me.

Also, apparently brews dont work or something? I didnt really test it out, but they werent healing as much as they should, or at all. I think.

Brews only seem to heal a capped 500 lp, 3k per flask. As for mages, I believe currently they are slightly overpowered. I was getting downed quite easily in ranged gear by mages, and when I turned to mage gear to test it out it seems as though I was hitting massive amounts of damage in small bits of time, with hardly any ranged damage hitting me.

Abilities that allow you to "escape" seem a bit overpowered too, I was able to bind shot an enemy and escape out of the wilderness before he could hit me.

I have been having fun in duel arena with sword and shielding. I had been doing other stuff but once I did sword and shield I only lost once or twice and both of those were close fights with mages. I have been destroying rangers and other meleers. Longest fights have been me against other shielding meleers and I keep winning due to my quick bar set up. I think it may be a tad op atm thoughl. I was fighting against a level 196 who was using pots and food the whole time while I had nothing and while it was a long drawn out fight I held my own and won. If that doesn't show opness then idk what does considering I am only 188 in the combat system. It may just be due to the fact I focus entirely on def with just enough offense to wear down opponents. But I am having a blast with the beta none the less.

I can't wait to be able to play it, now i gotta really hurry and get 99 rc quick so i can leave the runespan when this goes live,
i hate being busy :/

You have like 3 months for that.

Going to take a lot of getting used to! Had no plans of getting any 200ms in the near future but might have to finish off DG before this comes live. From what I've seen it's gunna take longer to complete dungeons as well as forming teams, having to be like "W+3 need crusher+mager+ranger"